In various industries, such as those mentioned above, it is often necessary to make repeated fluid connections while maintaining sterility at the connection site so as to prevent contaminants, such as dirt, dust or microorganisms from entering the fluid path at the connection site.
Various manners of maintaining sterility under such conditions have been developed in the past. These have included the use of steam or other sterilizing agents on the various fluid fittings or other components, including the connectors, so that sterile conditions are maintained throughout a process. If undertaken carefully, these methods can effectively maintain sterile conditions. However, such methods are time consuming and susceptible to human error. Therefore, especially in environments where productivity as well as robust sterilization procedures are necessary, these methods have given way to more efficient methods. In particular, disposable fluid connectors and fluid conduit systems are now in use and provide cost effective, efficient and yet robust manners of maintaining sterile conditions. For example, the disposable connector of U.S. Pat. No. 7,137,974 utilizes plug elements for maintaining the connector under sterile conditions. A slide member is used to move the plug elements from a position in which they block the fluid path to a position in the connector in which they do not block the fluid path. Once the plug elements are moved out of the blocking position, conduits may be moved together within the connector to make a fluid connection under sterile conditions.
It would be desirable to provide a fluid connector capable of making a fluid connection under sterile conditions, that is more easily manufactured and more efficiently used than past connectors.